On a Czech smart TV, the YouTube icon sits on the home screen right next to Netflix, and the two apps now behave more and more alike. Analyst Emily Horgan, who focuses on YouTube and streaming, summed it up in her newsletter: “Everyone’s saying that YouTube is becoming TV, but I have news for you… TV is also becoming YouTube.” The convergence runs both ways, and it can be documented with viewing figures and concrete product moves.
YouTube on the TV screen
The most-watched brand on US televisions is no longer a traditional channel or a premium streaming service. In May 2026 YouTube accounted for 13.8% of all time spent watching US TVs. That was its highest share yet and its third consecutive month at the top among all distributors, Nielsen reports in its The Gauge overview. Netflix came fourth with 8%, Disney’s services had 4.9% and Prime Video 4.5%. Streaming as a whole accounted for 48.6% of US TV viewing.
YouTube itself says that viewers on TV screens spend more than a billion hours a day watching on the platform. YouTube has adapted its look to match. Since autumn 2025 it has been rolling out a cleaner, less intrusive player interface with translucent controls, across mobile, web and the TV app. Horgan reads the redesign as an attempt to feel more like TV, and described it as “a major tidy up of their UX to feel cleaner, sleeker, and TV like”. She also points to changes in the YouTube Partner Program that, in her view, favour longer viewing.
Streaming borrows YouTube formats
The opposite direction is best seen in Netflix’s product. On 30 April 2026 Netflix launched a new mobile app built around vertical video. The feed is called Clips, and Netflix describes it as “a personalized highlight reel that helps you decide what to watch or play next, without endless scrolling”. It contains short previews of series, films and specials and has its own tab on the bottom bar next to home, search and profile. The scrolling feed, meanwhile, is a format popularised by TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts.
The format reached Europe a few months later. On 14 July 2026 Netflix expanded Clips to France and Germany, among other markets. “Mobile is an important part of how Netflix members stay connected to the entertainment they love,” said Elizabeth Stone, Netflix’s Chief Product and Technology Officer. In future, Clips is set to include podcasts and live broadcasts too, which moves it even closer to the logic of the endless feed.
Content flows both ways
Creators and digitally native animated brands from YouTube are heading for premium streaming, Horgan writes in her newsletter. On Netflix she names creators such as Ms. Rachel, Mark Rober and Danny Go!, and animated brands such as CoComelon, Sheriff Labrador and Plim Plim. Alongside Clips, she points to a programming page where, in her view, playlisting and edited compilations are starting to pay off, a content craft that YouTube has been cultivating for years.
Economics sits behind the convergence. A streaming service gains a creator with an existing YouTube audience at a lower cost than building a new brand from scratch, while YouTube raises advertising revenue through longer viewing on TV. Both sides are chasing the same viewer, who sits in front of a big screen with a phone in hand.
The line between a user video platform and premium streaming is blurring from both sides. YouTube is adopting TV habits and holds the largest share there, while streaming services are taking up vertical feeds and scrolling. For a brand deciding where to put its video and its budget, the difference between “TV” and “YouTube” is no longer a useful boundary.
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